The End of Calvin and Hobbes
by Iron59
Summary: An old habit bites back.


_I wrote this when I was still 12. Let's see how good my childhood self wrote. It's mostly the same, with some polishing alterations thanks to the present me, either for a little more literary effect, wrong tenses, or just typos. Review please, feel free to criticize the kid version of me._

* * *

_6 years ago_

_Calvin-_  
Ah, snow. The fine white powder that covers the land in the cold winter.

I love snow. It's useful for everything. For fun, for pranks, and for other stuff. Snowballs, snowmen, stuff like that.

Here I am with Hobbes, walking towards a hilltop, a hilltop we always go to. We enjoy either riding town our wagon or toboggan down this ol' slope. Always gives us fun. We'd usually stop when we fall off the cliff or hit a tree, a rock, or Susie Derkins.

Yep, good times.

I took a look around. There was a blizzard last night. It left the place really snowed. It must have been feet deep.

"Wow! It really snowed last night!" I said to Hobbes, my good old buddy. He always goes along with me during our wagon or toboggan rides.  
"Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand-new!" Hobbes replied happily. I agreed.  
"A new year, a fresh, clean start" I added.  
"It's like a big white sheet of paper to draw on!"  
"A day full of possibilities!"

We managed to make it at the hilltop. Hobbes immediately put down the toboggan. I got on it first, and Hobbes followed.

"It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy!" I said. Hobbes simply smiled and kicked the snow, giving us a boost downwards.

"Let's go exploring!"

* * *

It must have been about 15 seconds. I noticed it began to snow.

"It doesn't usually snow this hard. How deep do you think this is?" I asked Hobbes.  
"Can't really tell, I might get buried trying to see how deep it is," Hobbes joked.  
"Say, is it snowing again?" I then asked as I held out my hand; a snowflake landed on it.  
"You know, you're right," Hobbes said, doing the same.

After several seconds, the snow began blowing harder, and it started to obscure my vision.

"Maybe we should turn back?" Hobbes suggested.  
"No way! This is fun!" I retorted. We just continued sliding down, regardless of the snow.

"We should be getting back home. Your mom is probab...LOOK OUT!" Hobbes screamed as he pointed in front of me. I saw nothing, but eventually the snow revealed a tree that was in front of the way. I tried to steer, but it was too late; we hit the tree.

"Oooof!" I said. Our toboggan began spinning like crazy, dizzying me like heck, eventually spinning me off the toboggan, and sent me tumbling downwards.

It seemed unusually steep on this part of the hill. I tumbled uncontrollably, and eventually the ground gave way into a cliff. A very high cliff.

I fell. I screamed. My body flipped uncontrollably.

"Oh darn, what have I done!? Crap! Help me! Hobbes!" I shouted. I was in freefall, and I couldn't even see the ground due to the blizzard. I felt a fear I had never felt before.

"Aaaaaagghhhh!" I screamed.

Freefall felt like as if my heart wanted to escape from my body.

"I don't usually fall a cliff this high!" I shouted to myself. Most cliffs I jump off were about 30 or 20 feet, onto thick snow, but this? I must have been falling longer than before. This isn't gonna be good.

The snow then revealed a boulder, without any cushioning snow.

"Oh crap, of all the things I could fall on, why does it have to be a rock!?" I said. I knew this was going to be very, **very** painful.

As I fell closer to the rock, my life flashed before my eyes. I began remembering the times Hobbes and I would play together, whether it be Calvinball, a game of baseball, toys, or stuff. I remembered the many times I got into trouble with Mom and Dad. I remembered the good ol' cardboard box we used to play with. I remembered Susie Derkins and how I played pranks on her and stuff.

And lastly, I remembered all the wagon and toboggan rides I used to have with Hobbes. Miraculously, we didn't get hurt much every time we crashed. We either landed on a stream, we'd ram into a tree, we'd fall off a cliff(although much smaller than the one I'm falling off right now), or we'd run into a snowman usually made by Susie.

I might not experience those ever again.

"Crap. CRAP!" I screamed. I hit the rock facefirst, and bounced from the rock and landed back on the soft, white snow. It was like my face was on fire, like my soul was being sucked out of me. I couldn't scream; the wind was completely pushed out of my lungs.

"Hobbes-" I gasped out. I felt my body weaken, my strength draining. My vision blurred. The blizzard got even harder. I began to fear I was gonna die. I was alone, in the middle of a blizzard after falling several dozen feet into a rock.

Just as everything began to fade, I heard a soft thump right beside me. I saw an orange-black outline. Hobbes. I tried to reach out for him with my arm, but my arm lacked the strength.

And everything faded to black.

* * *

_Mom-_  
I looked outside the window, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Yesterday there was a blizzard, but now there's another? That was weird.

I just let Calvin out to sled with Hobbes a while ago. I didn't see this happening.

I waited. Perhaps Calvin would come back. After all, he wouldn't do something risky, right?

Right?

Something tells me no.

"Dear, can you check out Calvin outside? The snow is getting real hard!" I shouted.

"Sure thing, hon!" My husband replied.

I began wondering, what if something happened to Calvin?

I'm starting to worry about him. What if he gets stuck in the blizzard? What if he gets lost? I hope he's okay.

* * *

_Dad-__  
_Ugh, blizzards. As much as I like snow, I don't like blizzards. They take out all the fun in snow. I can't see anything beyond a few feet, the wind keeps pushing me back, and it's really cold.

Come to think of it, would Calvin enjoy that? He's quite the rowdy kid, always taking risks. Jumping off the roof in a dunce cap and makeshift wings to imitate a flying dinosaur, locking Rosalyn the babysitter out so that he could have fun with himself, and stuff.

But a blizzard? I really don't know. I put on a coat, and I began walking downstairs and out of the house.

"I'm going now, dear!" I said to my wife.  
"Okay, take care!" She replied.

I went out and began searching for Calvin. I spent probably half an hour out there.

But I couldn't find him.

He wasn't anywhere. Not in other houses, down the street, hiding somewhere else and playing a prank on us, or anything.

"Calvin! Where are you? We made hot chocolate!" I shouted out to no avail.

I really don't know where he prefers to play. I didn't care about his activities much.

"Calvin! If this is a prank, you're in real trouble!" I shouted out. Still no reply.

I spent probably an hour out there in the snow, shouting out for him. He never showed up. I had no choice, the blizzard remained strong. I went back into the house and told my wife I couldn't find him.

* * *

_Mom-_  
"What? You can't find him?" I said. My hunch was right, something happened. I began shaking in worry.  
"Yes, dear,"  
"You've been there for an hour and you haven't found him?" I asked.  
"Yep," He simply replied. I couldn't reply.

Immediately, I ran up the stairs and into our room and got dressed up. I then ran down and exited the house.

"I'm going to check! I'm going to find him too! You get yourself out of there!" I said. My husband simply followed me out of the house.

"Oh Calvin, I hope this isn't a prank, or you're in real big trouble," I said to myself with a grimace.

_But if this isn't...what happened to you? You've been in a blizzard for an hour!_ I thought to myself.

Please be okay, Calvin.

* * *

_They never found Calvin. They searched everywhere; other houses, the surrounding landscape, downtown, and Calvin wasn't there._

_Tomorrow came, and the couple went to the police, asking for help to find Calvin. Within a few days, they started posting posters all over town calling attention to him._

_The search for Calvin continued on for weeks. They were searching everywhere around town and the surrounding countryside, but they couldn't find Calvin whatsoever._

_Time passed, and Calvin remained unfound. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years._

_They never found Calvin._

* * *

_It had been 6 years since Calvin had disappeared. After the search proved to be a failure, Calvin was declared dead._

_Calvin's mom was devastated. She couldn't bear to lose her son. As much as he a mischievous and rowdy little brat, she still cared for him. Loved him._

_His dad was equally devastated. They had just lost their only son. They couldn't even have a funeral for him, as there was no body._

_The house felt unusually serene and quiet without Calvin. Gone were the pranks and water balloons, the hijinks with the babysitter, the noise that Calvin made, and all the chaos that came along. Loneliness consumed them._

_Soon, they had another child, but this time, it was a girl. However, she was very much unlike Calvin. Instead of being a school-hating, hyperactive, mischievous prankster, she was instead a obedient and school-loving little girl, never troublesome. They named her Claire._

_Though the years had passed, they still missed Calvin deeply._

* * *

___Present day_

_Claire-_  
Well, here we are. My parents insisted on going out on a walk. I just followed. It was in the middle of winter. It was snowing.

The walk was in silence for most of the time. Sometimes Dad would utter a joke, or Mom would moan something.

We then began walking down a hill. I really don't know what we were doing out here. It seemed to be quite far from our home.

I was bored. I needed something to break the silence. Maybe a good conversation or something?

I opened my mouth and spoke.

"Mom, Dad, you said back then you had another kid, but he went missing and you never found him. Is that true?" I asked.

"Yes, sweety. That was about 6 years ago. His name was Calvin," Dad replied to me.  
"What happened to him?" I asked.  
"We really don't know. The last time I saw him, he went out with his stuffed tiger to ride on his toboggan," Mom then replied. "A blizzard followed, and we never got to see him again," She added.  
"Oh? Did you try looking for him?" I asked.  
"Yes. We failed," Mom said. I thought I heard a single, slight sob.

As we walked, we managed to make it down the slope. It was then that I noticed something brown sticking out in the snow to my right. It was somewhat far. I began running towards it.

"Hey, Claire!" Mom and Dad said in unison as they began chasing me.

Soon enough, I arrived at the brown thing. It seemed to be wooden. It looked like a toboggan. It looked really really old, as if it had been there for years.

"Dad! Mom! I found a toboggan!" I said, just as my parents arrived.  
"Wait? A toboggan?" Mom said. Her voice seemed to change. She ran towards it and began checking it.  
"What's wrong, Mom?" I asked.  
"I last saw Calvin with a toboggan. Do you think he's here?" She replied.  
"Dear, is that a tail over there buried in the snow?" Dad then said, pointing at what appeared to be a striped orange tail. Mom began running towards it and pulled it out. It revealed an old stuffed tiger.  
"Hobbes?" Mom said. I began wondering about that name.  
"Did you say Hobbes?" Dad said as he then ran towards Mom.  
"Who's Hobbes?" I asked. They didn't reply. Just then, I saw a blue snow cap in the snow. I began walking towards it. I then picked it up.

"Mom, why is there...what's this?" I said, just as I saw something grey right underneath where the snow cap was. I began uncovering it and removing all the snow covering it.

"Yes? What's that, Claire?" Mom asked. I didn't reply. I just continued uncovering it.

To my horror, it revealed a skull. I continued uncovering, and it eventually revealed a blue jacket and jeans. I tried to see what was under the clothes, and I saw bones. I backed away from horror.

"Claire, what is that?" Mom said, surprising me. I looked behind and saw her behind my back, staring at the skeleton. Dad then arrived. He said the same thing.

Mom then got down and looked at the skeleton closely.

"Isn't this what Calvin was wearing that day?" Mom said in a worrying tone. Dad got close to the skeleton too.  
"You know, you're right! Oh no..." Dad said in the same tone. I thought I heard Mom began to cry.

"Mom, is this Calvin?" I asked. For some reason, just seeing Mom cry made me too want to cry. Mom didn't reply. Instead, she began bawling.  
"Yes, sweety. This is Calvin," Dad replied, with tears flowing out of his face. Mom began crying out loud.

For some reason, it made me sad. And it horrified me.

A tear flowed out of my eyes. I began crying, too. I didn't know why.

* * *

_Originally inspired by me after I slipped in a school bathroom while running and hit my skull on a sink at full running speed. With the exception of dying (I knocked myself unconscious instead), Calvin's final moments was pretty much how I felt. _

_Original version here: f227/skeleton-snow-calvin-hobbes-fic-76044/  
_


End file.
